Fact Five

Jupiter takes only 9 hours and 55 minutes to spin on its axis. This means a day on Jupiter is less than 10 hours long. Its fast rotation causes the planet to be squashed, being wider at the equator than from North to South.

Fact Six

Jupiter is the planet with the strongest pull of gravity in the Solar System. If we were able to stand on the surface of Jupiter, we would
weigh three times as much as we would weigh on
Earth. The only other object in the Solar System with a stronger pull of gravity is the
Sun.

Cold at the tops of the clouds, temperatures rise to 152 °c 600 km into them. Thunderstorms are present across the planet, although are not as common as on Earth. Wind speeds have been measured at 640 km/h, and a storm present in the planet's Red Spot has been observed for centuries.

Voyager 1 (USA, 1977), Voyager 2 (USA, 1977), Galileo (USA, 1989), Ulysses (USA/Europe, 1990), Cassini-Huygens (USA/Europe/Italy, 1997), New Horizons (USA, 2006). Note that although these are still active missions, all apart from Ulysses have long since past by Jupiter and are at other locations in the Solar System.